Zillmere has undergone a transformation, with one local predicting it’s the next boom area

FOR years it was the ugly duckling of Brisbane’s north, known for its public housing and high crime rates.

But the suburb of Zillmere is undergoing a transformation, with one local even predicting it will be the next boom suburb behind Nundah.

Located 14kms from the city, the area was an industrial and rural locality until after World War II.

It then became the first Brisbane suburb to have prefabricated housing commission homes.

Dawn Priestley moved to Zillmere 54 years ago from Virginia.

As she put it, she was “lucky enough” to secure one of the public housing properties.

She then bought it off the government later on.

Mrs Priestley said it was only recently the streetscape had started to change as more and more apartments were built.

“The Zillmere Progress Association fought against what they said would be ghetto-living here,” she said.

“It got to the stage where only so many streets were allowed to have multi-dwellings.

“I’m fortunate enough on my street not to have one.”

Houses in Zillmere are still available for less than $500,000.

Old timber and brick homes still line most of the streets, but townhouses and three-storey apartments have crept in along Zillmere, Church and Beams roads.

Watt Realty sales consultant Wayne Sweet said there were two sides to Zillmere that were separated by the train tracks.

Mr Sweet said the Aspley side was a “fantastically valued” pocket because of its proximity to its neighbouring middle-class suburb, public transport and Chermside.

“You can have a house in Zillmere or one right behind it in Aspley but it might cost you $50,000 more,” he said.

“Zillmere doesn’t have the best name in the world.”

Having said that, Mr Sweet said the area was changing as more families moved in.

“I keep telling first homeowners they should be buying in Zillmere,” he said.

Watt Realty sales consultant Wayne Sweet said there was plenty to love about Zillmere.

“A lot of the homes on the other side of the tracks were housing commission so every time we sell something on that side it gets cleaned up a little bit.”

Houses are selling for an average of about $450,000, compared to a mean price of $632,000 recorded in December 2015.

Karen D’Ekenaike ended up in Zillmere by chance 10 years ago, but has since opened one of the area’s few coffee shops.

She and her ex-husband originally opened Octane Coffee Co — located down the road from the train station — in a takeaway shopfront that had become available.

They then expanded into the neighbouring store to create a dine-in cafe.

But Octane Coffee Co is more than just a coffee shop, with its own brand of beans also roasted on-site.

Karen D’Ekenaike said there was talk Zillmere would be the next Nundah.

Ms D’Ekenaike said next year she wanted to launch night-time dining in the expansive backyard.

“My vision is to turn it into a tapas bar,” she said.

Ms D’Ekenaike said her house was broken into four times in the first four years she lived in Zillmere, but for the past six years she hadn’t had any problems.

“It had that rough feel to it, but that’s changing,” she said.

“It’s very multicultural, there are a lot of Indians, Africans and Italians.

“It’s got that New Farm feel in terms of the people.

“Everyone says it’ll be the next Nundah.”

While crime is still clearly an issue in Zillmere — there were 1181 offences between July 2015 and June 2016 compared to 966 in the much larger suburb of Aspley — Acting Inspector Don Dunston said the biggest issue was property crime.

“There is a bit of an emphasis at the moment to try and reduce complaints,” he said.

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